Children now drink a bath full of sugary drinks every year

Children as young as 11 drink the equivalent of almost a bath full of sugary drinks every year, Cancer Research UK has warned.

Figures suggest secondary school pupils (11-18) each drink just over 234 cans of soft drink a year – almost the size of an 80 litre average bathtub full.

Even toddlers aged between one and a half and three drink the equivalent of 1.34 cans of fizzy drink every week – nearly 70 a year.

Meanwhile, those aged four to 10 drink more than 110 cans of fizzy drink per year on average – almost half a bathtub – according to the analysis, based on data from the National Diet and Nutrition Survey.

A 330ml can of cola can contain 35g of sugar – more than the maximum sugar recommendations for a five-year-old (19g of total sugar per day) and for a child aged 11 and over (30g per day).

Alison Cox, Director of Prevention at CRUK, called the findings “shocking”.

She said: “We urgently need to stop this happening and the good news is that the Government’s sugar tax will play a crucial role in helping to curb this behaviour.

The ripple effect of a small tax on sugary drinks is enormous, and it will give soft drinks companies a clear incentive to reduce the amount of sugar in drinks.”

In March, the Government announced it will introduce a sugar tax on soft drinks with added sugar.

Drinks with 5g of sugar per 100ml will face a lower rate of tax ,while those with more than 8g per 100ml will face a higher rate.

The Office for Budget Responsibility estimates the levy could add 18p to 24p to the price of a litre of fizzy drink if the full cost is passed on to the consumer.

CRUK estimates that a 20p-per-litre sugar tax could prevent 3.7 million cases of obesity over the next decade.